Leon Landry
Rumors

Though power hitters always get the publicity, a handful of high on-base percentage speedsters that are likely to be first-day picks in the 2010 draft could prove to be lead off hitters professionally.

Gary Brown, Cal State Fullerton: He needs to improve his walk rate, but is incredibly fast and runs a sub-4.0 to first base. 

Tyler Holt, Florida State: As fast as Brown, but with much better discipline at the plate. 

Tyler Holt is speedy player with good plate discipline

Leon Landry, LSU: Another above-average runner, Landry has better power than Holt or Brown.  He's a nice, intriguing talent," said an American League scout. "He runs, and brings some punch to the plate. I like the way he plays the game, and he might fit at the top of the lineup with his patience and plate skills."

Austin Wates, Virginia Tech: Impressed scouts this summer in the Cape Cod league and is considered the best overall prospect of the group.  "If you want a bat for the top of your lineup, he might be the best guy for that job," said one scout. "He might be able to drive in runs for you, though."

Plenty of baseball action this past Saturday, Mar 6.  Let's take a look at the highlights from the draft prospects:

• Jedd Gyorko continues to hit.  His numbers are up to 361/452/639 with six walks vs. four strikeouts in his first nine games.
• Houston's Michael Goodnight out dueled Texas's Brandon Workman in a 1-0 win for the Cougars.  Despite walking four hitters, Goodnight struck out nine over 7IP and allowed just two hits.  Workman was equally as impressive, yielding just a walk, four hits and one earned run over 8IP with seven strikeouts.
• Cal State Fullerton's Christian Colon continues to struggle going 0-for-5 against Arizona.  The shortstop is hitting 194/310/306 through the first nine games of the season.  After having a 971 OPS last year, no one expects his struggles to continue long, but the lapse allows other shortstops like Josh Rutledge to close the gap on draft boards.

Christian Colon needs to snap out of his funk soon

• Alabama's Jimmy Nelson fanned eleven batters over six innings without giving up a walk.  Though considered a second-day pick heading into the season, he has a 19-1 K/BB ratio over the first 16 innings of his season and is moving up draft boards.

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Here's a review of on-field hitting performances by notable 2010 draft prospects for February 28th through March 5th.

Tyler Holt: The outfielder from Florida State walked twice, stole his second base and scored against Hofstra on 2/28.  Holt finally struck out on 3/2, three times, but also added two hits.

Cameron Rupp: Texas' first baseman had a single and a walk vs. Stanford on 2/28 to raise his numbers to .364/.533/.455.  Cameron finally hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday.

Micah Gibbs: The LSU catcher hit a double and three singles, walked, had a RBI and stole a base in Sunday's Game 1 win over William & Mary.  Went 0-fer in Game 2.

Micah Gibbs

Leon Landry: Gibbs' outfield teammate at LSU went 3-for-7 in the double header with five stolen bases on the day. 

Andy Wilkins: Arkansas' first baseman had two hits prompting a scout to say "I learned...this weekend [that] Wilkins can hit."  On Tuesday, Wilkins had two doubles in three at-bats, raising his batting average to .435.  On Friday, Wilkins went 2-for-4 with a homerun against Cal.

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Pepperdine's Cole Cook had a successful outing recently against the #2 team in the country, LSU. Although Cook took the loss, dropping his record to 0-2 on the season, and yielded three earned runs, he still threw effectively.  Cook's line was very respectable 7IP, 7H, 1BB, 3ER and 9K - especially against one of the top teams in the country.

Cole has been known to struggle maintaining his velocity late into games, but his last pitch was a 92 mph fastball, not much of a dip from where he threw all day.  His fastest pitch was recorded at 94.  "Better, I'd say, and maybe that's a matter of how early in the season it was for him," an NL club's area scout said.

Pepperdine's Cole Cook had a solid outing against #2 LSU

"He was aggressive," the scout said. "This was a nice test and he didn't back down. I had him in the low-90s for much of the game, and by my count his last fastball there (in the seventh inning) was 92. But the key for him was the split, it was very effective. And he was much better at avoid the middle of the plate, and for the most part kept the ball in the lower half of the zone."

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Jason Churchill of espn.com continues his review of the opening weekend of D1 college baseball play.  For more on opening weekend, click here.

• After struggling in 2009 and falling to the 10th round, Sam Dyson from South Carolina started out 2010 on a high note striking out six in 3.2IP with just one walk and no hits.  Most importantly was that it only took Dyson 48 pitches to get the eleven outs.  Dyson struggled with high pitch counts in 2009.
• Leon Landry will need a big spring to get into the first round, but had a good start going 1-for-3 with a double in LSU's opening win.
• Cal State Fullerton's Christian Colon went 0-for-4, struggling against Pepperdine's Matt Bywater who threw a complete game shutout with 10 Ks, two walks and four hits.  Churchill feels that Bywater's questionable velocity does not make him a first-day draft consideration.

Christian Colon struggled in his season debut

• In his first two games Tyler Holt from Florida State reached base five times and is solidifying himself as a viable leadoff-type hitter.  He is very fast and had a great BB-K ratio in 2009: 54-47.
• Bryce Brentz from Middle Tennessee State was 2-for-5 in his debut. 
• Another top collegiate bat, Zack Cox, went 1-for-5 for Arkansas against Ball State.  Kolbrin Vitek an intriguing prospect from Ball State had three singles and a triple against Arkansas.
• Miami's Yasmani Grandal was 1-for-3 with 2BB against Rutgers, but his teammates Chris Hernandez and David Gutierrez really impressed.  Hernandez struck out five batters in four innings while Gutierrez struck out the side in the ninth.

Yasmani Grandal's teammates overshadowed his opening performance

• Kyle Blair struggled in his debut, inconveniently in front of espn.com's Keith Law.  Despite eight strikeouts, Blair walked four in four innings against a moderate Indiana lineup.
• Similar to Blair, Brandon Workman of Texas also struggled, but didn't get much help from his defense.  Workman allowed nine hits and three earned runs in six innings, but did have seven strikeouts.

Jason Churchill of espn.com recently took a look at the top collegiate players that could end up first-round draft picks when MLB amateur draft gets started in June. 

• Ranked #2 on Keith Law's Top 50 draft prospects, Anthony Ranaudo is an obvious choice for the first round.  His LSU teammates, Micah Gibbs and Leon Landry are less likely.
• Arkansas teammates Zack Cox and Andy Wilkins are both considered first-round possibilities, but teammates Brett Eibner struggled in 2009 and would need a good 2010 to move up draft boards.
• The SEC is loaded with the names listed above and Drew Pomeranz from Ole Miss and Justin Grimm from Georgia, both who could go in the first round.  Kentucky's James Paxton is also a first round possibility after being drafted by the Blue Jays in the first round in 2009, but choosing not to sign.  He is currently ineligible to play, but fighting the charges, based on alleged violations of his amateur status.
• From the Big 12, Brandon Workman and Sam Dyson figure to go in the first round.

Brandon Workman figures to be a first round pick come June

• Alex Wimmers from Ohio State figures to be the lone Big 10 player taken in the first round.  Same for Dixon Anderson out of the Pac-10.
• The ACC is not as loaded as the SEC, but could put four names in the first round: Deck McGuire (Georgia Tech), Jarrett Parker (Virigina), Yasmani Grandal (Miami) and Matt Harvey (UNC).
• Bryce Brentz from Middle Tennessee State and Austin Wates from Virginia Tech figure to be two outfielders who could go in the first round.
• Christian Colon (Cal State Fullerton) might not have the speed that scouts want, but he's still a consideration in the first round. 

USA Baseball released its 50-player watch list for the 2010 Golden Spikes Award given to the top amateur baseball player in the United States.  On June 1st, 2010, the watch list will be reduced to the 30 official nominations for additional consideration.  Voters will be asked to nominate five players from the list and the five finalists for the award will be announced on June 8th, 2010.  Additional voting will take place on the 8th and a winner will be announced.  Interestingly, June 8th, 2010 is also the first day of Major League Baseball's amateur draft.  The winner will not be announced until July 13th, 2010.

Six players on the 2010 watch list were semi-finalists in 2009: Bryce Brentz, Alex Wimmers, Deck McGuire, Anthony Rendon, Addison Reed and Daniel Bibona.

A semi-finalist in 2009, Alex Wimmers has made the 2010 Golden Spikes Award Watch List

Bryce Harper from the College of Southern Nevada is the only junior college player to make list.  A junior college player has won the award just once, Alex Fernandez in 1990.

LSU leads all colleges with four players nominated (Blake Dean, Micah Gibbs, Leon Landry and Anthony Ranaudo) while Texas has three (Chad Bettis, Taylor Jungmann and Brandon Workman), and Alabama, Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech, University of Miami, Rice and Virginia have two apiece.

Keith Law of espn.com ranked the 30 best prospects from the Cape Cod League this summer. 1-15 can be found here and 16-30 can be found here. Keith ranked 2010 and 2011 eligible players, but we're only concerned with 2010, so we have conveniently summarized the 2010 prospects in one post.

1. Zack Cox - 3B, Arkansas: A good defensive thrid baseman who also swings a big bat. Age-eligible sophomore means demands could be high.
2. Austin Wates - OF, Virginia Tech: His defensive position is unclear, but he's a super athlete with good plate discipline.
3. Brandon Workman - RHP, Texas: Good fastball at 94-92 and an unhittable "sharp spike curveball".
4. Alex Wimmers - RHP, Ohio State: Arguably the best curveball on the Cape, Wimmers was also in the top five in D1 in Ks last year.
5. Leon Landry - OF, LSU: A superior athlete who is blazing fast and actually had a higher average with wood bats on the Cape than in college.
6. Rob Rasmussen - LHP, UCLA: An aggressive pitcher with above-average command, he throws four pitches including an above-average fastball and curveball.
7. Bryan Morgado - LHP, Tennessee: Despite a difficult spring, Morgado excelled this summer and displayed an above-average fastball and breaking ball.
8. Brett Eibner - RHP, Arkansas: Good command with a low-90s fastball and a "promising" cutter.
9. Cameron Rupp - C, Texas: Plays like a true power hitter with solid slugging numbers and good walks.
10. Dallas Gallant - RHP, Sam Houston State: His "stuff" has not yet translated into success on the field, but he has good speed on his fastball and a very good curveball.
11. Justin Grimm - RHP, Georgia: Has hit 97 on the gun, but struggles with any other pitch.
12. Mickey Wiswall - 3B, BC: Swing is long and he struggles with his discipline, but good power.
13. Chris Sale - LHP, Florida Gulf Coast: Good movement on his fastball, decent change up, below-average curveball
14. Seth Rosin - RHP, Minnesota: Big 6'6", 220 lb frame with good command of his fastball
15. Kevin Rhoderick - RHP, Oregon State: Mid-90s fastball and a good slider are enticing. His command isn't.
16. Hunter Morris - 1B, Auburn: A big power hitter, who doesn't bring much else to the plate (figurative or literally).
17. Jarrett Parker - OF, Virginia: His power/speed combination draw comparisons to Brett Jackson, but he needs to improve consistency.
18. Dan Tillman - RHP, Florida Southern: While ERA can be erratic at the college level, 0.00 is hard to ignore.
19. Jedd Gyorko - 2B/3B, West Virginia: Despite diminutive size, he has great bat speed which will lead to good contact rates.
20. Micah Gibbs - C, LSU: Switch-hitter, good power, patient.
21. Josh Rutledge - SS, Alabama: Offense is lacking, but he's a rock at shortstop.
22. Kevin Munson - RHP, James Madison: Hard thrower (96-92), but struggles with control. Already a full-time reliever.
23. Nick Tepesch - RHP, Missouri: Very live arm, but struggles with command. Throws four pitches, but only changeup is above-average right now.
24. Michael Olt - 3B, UConn: Has moved from SS to 3B already and may have to move to the OF eventually.
25. Todd Cunningham - OF, Jacksonville State: Led the Cape in batting average, but little power.

Jason Churchill of espn.com has an update from the summer leagues with plenty of players who will be available in the 2010 MLB Draft.

New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)

• Adam Matthews of South Carolina impressed an area scout.
• Vanderbilt's best hitter, Aaron Westlake, will be playing for the Newport Gulls.
• Kansas RHP TJ Walz had 88Ks in 82.1IP this season and will be playing in the NECBL.
• Mitchell Beacom from UCLA will be playing for the Holyoke Blue Sox. "He's one of those, you know, projectable types," one AL club's West Coast area scout said. "Lots there to look for, and he's a lefty."
• If I were playing in the NECBL, I'd be really bummed if I got stuck in Holyoke, MA vs. Newport, RI.

Texas Collegiate Baseball League (TCBL)

• RHPs Willie Kempf from Baylor and Jeff Emens are prospects on scouts radars who will be playing in the TCBL this summer.

Cape Cod League

• SS Christian Colon from Cal State-Fullerton, 1B Andy Wilkins from Arkansas and RHP Anthony Ranaudo will be suiting up for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and likely trailed by scouts all summer.
• Arkansas' Zack Cox, Texas RHP Chance Ruffin and Clemson LHP Chris Dwyer (taken by the Royals in the 4th round) will be playing for the Cotuit Kettleers.
• SS Derek Dietrich from Georgia Tech and OF Alex Dickerson from Indiana will be playing for the Wareham Gateman.
• Georgia Tech RHP Deck McGuire and Fresno State 2B Danny Muno will be on the Orleans Firebirds along wtih Max Stassi's older brother, LHP Brock Stassi from Nevada.
• Middle Tennessee State's Bryce Brentz and LSU OF Leon Landry will team up for the Harwich Mariners.
• The Bourne Braves might have the best team with Ole Miss LHP Drew Pomeranz, FSU OF Tyler Holt and Tennessee C Blake Forsythe.
• If Kentrail Davis does not sign with the Brewers soon, he'll be playing for the Falmouth Commodores.
• RHP Matt Harvey from UNC will be playing for the Chatham Anglers.

The 2010 MLB Draft class might not have the star power at the top that the 2009 MLB Draft class did (Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Ackley) or be as loaded as the 2011 draft class (Sports Illustrated coverboy Bryce Harper, Sonny Gray, Alex Meyer, Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole and Danny Hultzen) but there's plenty of talent to track.

College Bats

• Bryce Brentz, OF, Middle Tennessee State
• Christian Colon, SS, Cal-State Fullerton
• Derek Dietrich, SS/3B, Georgia Tech
• Yasmani Grandal, C, Miami
• Josh Rutledge, SS, Albama
• Ross Wilson, 3B, Albama
• Blake Forsythe, C, Tennessee
• Leon Landry, OF, LSU
• Andy Wilkins, 1B, Arkansas
• Micah Gibbs, C, LSU

College Arms

• Anthony Ranaudo, RHP, LSU
• Justin Grimm, RHP, Georgia
• Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Mississippi
• Nick Tepesch, RHP, Missouri
• Matt Harvey, RHP, UNC
• Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, Oregon State
• Josh Osich, LHP, Oregon State
• Kyle Blair, RHP, San Diego
• Chris Hernandez, LHP, Miami
• Brandon Workman, RHP, Texas
• Chad Bettis, RHP, Texas
• Alex Wimmers, RHP, Ohio State

High School Bats

• Trey Griffin, OF, Martin Luther King HS, GA
• Austin Wilson, Harvard-Westlake School, CA
• Kris Bryant, SS/3B, Bonanza HS, NV
• Krey Bratsen, OF, Bryan HS, TX
• Nick Castellanos, 3B, Archbishop McCarthy HS, FL
• Yordy Cabrera, SS/RHP, Lakeland HS, FL
• Reggie Golden, Wetumpka HS, AL
• Taylor Lindsay, OF, Desert Mountain HS, AZ
• Marcus Littlewood, SS, Pineview HS, UT

High School Arms

• AJ Cole, RHP, Oveida HS, FL
• Jameson Taillon, RHP, The Woodlands HS, TX
• Stetson Allie, RHP/SS, St. Edward HS, OH
• Zach Lee, RHP, McKinney HS, TX
• Justin O'Connor, RHP/SS, Cowan HS, IN
• Kevin Gausman, RHP, Grandview HS, CO
• Rudy Acosta, RHP, Mt. Miguel HS, CA
• Cam Bedrosian, RHP, East Coweta HS, GA